Walking The Walk . . .

I spend a great deal of time in bookstores, and it never ceases to amaze me just how many new titles there are every week in the genre of "self improvement." I think people in general are always looking for that "one thing" they're missing in their lives. And readers are no exception--they're always looking for that book that will answer those questions for them.  We're always searching . . .  I saw titles today on topics like mindfulness . . . that's a type of meditation where you focus intently on what you're sensing and feeling at that moment.  It's supposed to help you relax and connect with your environment.  Make you more aware, more relaxed, more content and connected. And there titles on stress, and depression, and finding your place in the world.  There were titles on how to be a better person, and how to be happy, and how to eat better so you could be happy.  There were books about how to be content, and how to stop worrying all the

"Whataboutism: a rhetorical devise that involves accusing others of offenses as a way of deflecting attention from one's own deeds." ~Merriam-Webster My daughter got in trouble at school recently.  She broke a rule, she got caught, and the principle talked to her. It wasn't a serious offense, but it was something that the school had been cracking down on, and all the kids knew it.  My daughter was upset about it, but admitted she had broken the rule.  But her defense was that all the other kids were doing the same thing that she was doing, and they didn't get in trouble. The "whataboutism." The traditional defense of a child . . . but Billy was doing the same thing and he didn't get in trouble.  And I realized that adults aren't any better.  In fact, this same defense used by grade school age children is used over and over again by our culture.  We don't really care if our behavior is reprehensible so long as we can point to somebody doing th